Office of the Election Commission of India.
Credit: PTI File Photo
New Delhi: The Election Commission on Thursday said it has started proceedings to de-list 345 Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (RUPP), which have not contested a single election in last six years and its offices could not be physically located anywhere, by issuing show-cause notices to them.
In a statement, the EC said these RUPPs, which are from different states and union territories, were identified in the first phase of this exercise and would be continued with the objective of cleaning up the political system.
"It has come to the notice of the Commission that of the over 2,800 RUPPs, currently registered with ECI, many RUPPs have failed to fulfil the essential conditions which are required to continue as an RUPP. Thus, a nationwide exercise was conducted by the EC to identify such RUPPs and 345 such RUPPs have already been identified till now," it said.
To ensure that no party is unduly de-listed, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi have instructed to issue show-cause notices to RUPPs.
These parties will be given an opportunity through a hearing by the concerned CEOs and a final decision on de-listing of any RUPP shall be taken by the Election Commission.
Parties are registered with the ECI under the provisions of Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act 1951. Under this provision, any association once registered as a political party gets certain privileges and advantages such as tax exemptions amongst others.
"This exercise has been conducted with the aim of cleaning up the political system and de-listing of such parties which have not contested any election to Lok Sabha or Legislative Assemblies of States/UTs or bye-elections since 2019 and those which could not be physically traced as well," the statement said.
In 2022, the EC had taken action against 537 RUPPs for various violations, including delisting 284 RUPPs.